More on Takahisa Zeze’s ‘Pandemic’

The official website for Takahisa Zeze‘s Pandemic (Kansen Rettou) went live today and there have been all sorts of new developments since the movie was first announced at the beginning of the year. The release date has been officially set at January 17, 2009. Some new cast additions include Ryoko Kuninaka as a nurse named Takako, Yuji Tanaka as Takako’s husband, Chizuru Ikewaki as the wife of the first infected patient, Takanori Takeyama as a freelance virus researcher, Koichi Sato as an ER doctor, and Tatsuya Fuji as a university professor and expert on the influenza virus.

In the movie Satoshi Tsumabuki plays an ER doctor named Tsuyoshi Matsuoka who receives a patient with a virus unlike anything he’s seen before. His symptoms include high fever, convulsions, vomiting of blood, and multiple organ failure. Could this be a new form of influenza or is it some other variety of virus? As the situation worsens and more cases begin arriving a medical officer from the World Health Organization named Eiko Kobayashi (Rei Dan) is dispatched to the area. At the rate the virus is spreading the entire city’s transportation system and infrastructure would be brought to a halt within 3 months. Within 6 months it could spread to tens of millions of people—reaching a death toll far worse than any war. Can mankind put an end to this deadly pandemic?

Back in May, Tokyograph reported that the promotional materials for the film made a big impression on potential buyers at Cannes without even having any footage to show and an unnamed production company was already in negotiations with TBS for the rights for a US remake.

Here’s a 13-second teaser:

Official website

 Subscribe in a reader

Tags: chizuru ikewaki, koichi sato, pandemic, rei dan, ryoko kuninaka, satoshi tsumabuki, takahisa zeze, takanori takeyama, tatsuya fuji, yuji tanaka